HandMe Downs, Community Service, and a Bucket
by loveyourbiggestfan
Summary: Plenty can happen when you're forced to do charity work on the beach. You can, A, Lose your mind. B, Scrub the floors of the public washrooms though maybe you possibly enjoy it . C, Fall in love. Kyo/Tohru/Yuki. MOST LIKELY DISCONTINUED.
1. Summer

So. I've been watching Fruits Basket lately off my cousin's DVD series, so it is now one of my many obsessions. Which can only lead to me _eventually_ writing about it. I don't know necassarily where this idea came from, but I have a feeling it's been stuck in my pile of stacked 'possibly' idea for quite awhile now. Lol. So anyways-hope you enjoy. Have no idea how well this will go but-meh. This one's pretty short, but if I do continue with this the next chapters are sure to be longer. :)

**Note:** I have not read the manga. With an exception of a tiny bit-part in volume 15, and a few other scenes friends and family have pointed out to me, I have only seen 15 episodes so far in the anime. So, all my knowledge of FB is based on the anime. Sorry if this turns off a few people, but FB is really hard to get hold of where I live (without actually purchasing it, of course. Lol.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FB. At ALL.

* * *

Community service.

The words hit him smack-dab in the face.

"Actually, it sounds kinda fun." Tohru smiled, as she glanced at the piece of paper, the one she had hand-picked randomly from the basket. She giggled, and turned to Kyo to see his reaction.

He wasn't pleased. That was for sure.

"I can't believe we're forced to do this." He muttered silent curses, then at the sight of Tohru, cleared himself. "I mean, seriously, don't they know some people have plans for the summer?"

She shrugged. "Well, I think they do. But, it is for a good cause, right?"

Kyo rubbed the back of his head and snuck a look at his classmates' papers. A sigh. "Picking those papers were useless. They all say 'Community Service'. No way out of it."

"It's for the extra credit, Kyo."

"Miss Honda is correct," the smooth serene voice of the silver-haired Sohma member peeped into their little conversation, backing up Tohru's statement. "We need it to complete highschool."

"But-"

"Which we _all_, want to do, right?" Yuki cocked an eyebrow at Kyo, waiting intently for whatever answer, and giving a sidelong glance at Torhu, who somewhat did the same.

"Don't worry one bit, Kyo. If you do breakdown or anything, you have me and Yuki right behind you!" She grinned, then paused when she his features heat up to its boiling point_. I guess Kyo really isn't excited for community service._

Kyo inhaled, then exhaled. "I'm going home. No one's gonna stop me."

Blank stares came over Tohru and Yuki, as they watched orange top out of the building. He'd be lucky if he wasn't trampled over by Kagura this time.

* * *

He did not want to spend his summer picking out litter people had purposely left on the beach for someone to pick up.

That was the first thing that popped into his head once he ran the rest of the way home.

There was actually still ten minutes in his last period, but never once did _that _cross his mind. Kyo was actually looking forward to summer this time-but community service, even just the thought of it-was apparentely enough to ruin his last day of his junior year, and his summer completely.

He wanted to fight Yuki, train with Kazuma, spend a little more time with certain someones than he had, and do what he thought he should do.

Kyo leaned back onto the roof of the Sohma residence, and breathed in a haste of fresh air to try and clear away his thoughts.

Doing work without getting something out of it was completely out of the question.

But it's for a good cause, she had said. With a smile, with compassion, like always.

Always.

"Says her," he mumbled, then in swift movement, leaped off the roof at the calling of dinner.

* * *

"Community service!" chanted Shigure, a goofy grin permanentely glued onto his face. "That sounds like a wonderful idea to spend the summer! You know, back when I was in highschool, I had a great time-"

"That's because you got to see those highschool girls in their bikinis." A statement by one of the other two guys-wouldn't matter which, because both were thinking that either way.

The dog smirked. "Why yes, but it was also the thought of doing such good in the world that-"

"Shut up and eat your miso," said Yuki, as he helped himself with a silent slurp.

No way would he listen. "So, when do you start?"

Tohru glanced up, and for the first time that dinner, answered for the three of them, "We start in two days! We're going to meet up with our coach from school at the beach, and he's going to assign us jobs for the summer. It's going to be a lot of fun, I heard." Naturally, she seemed content.

"Fantastic, you'll be starting right away then!" But of course, Shigure's mind was on other things…

* * *

He could imagine it now.

"Tohru, you're on lifeguard duty." The man circled around the decent-numbered group of teens, passing on glares at some, chuckles at others.

"Yuki, bathrooms."

Coach did two more rounds and announced a few more students' roles, then threw an intense smirk at orange top.

"Kyo, you're the ice cream man," he said finally. "And no slacking on the job. Be nice to the little kiddos, and no passing out free ice cream. Which means none for you without a purchase. Clear, Sohma?"

A brief nod, angered, but contained.

The whole irony of it was that it was reality in disguise.

He'd been too blind to realize it.

* * *

Reviews, please. Should I continue?

PS. Can someone tell me the name of the school's coach? I know there was an episode on it, but I haven't seen it. Only a short clip.


	2. Strawberry Ice Cream

**Finally done! I admit I procrastinated for awhile, this could've been done a heck of alot earlier. Ah well. A few errors here and there, since, I'm not really one for proofreading. xD I usually just finish, look over the whole thing in liek two seconds, then post it up here. That's me! (Any objections?)**

**ANYWAY. Here you go-enjoy guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, just the story and the plot of this story.**

* * *

"This is stupid." One of the girls, brunette, doing litter duty dropped her stick and threw her cap to the rough sand, the dust particles swimming in the air for a few brief seconds. "No way am I going to spend the rest of my summer at this deserted joint. I've already spent three days here. That's already about a hundred hours! A gazillion minutes!"

Hana, who sat at one of the off-white plastic tables nearby, glanced up from her reading. "I'm sorry, but I can't help but point out that your calculations are incorrect. It's seventy-two hours, and four thousand three hundred two minutes."

"Whatever." And she stomped off to get a drink.

The weather was scorching. The sun was out, bright orange and infuriating, and the breeze was warm. Sweat trickled down the necks and foreheads of overworked students, and almost every one of them went tank topped (the girls) or without their shirts (the guys). They were on their third cooler of bottled water by the second hour, and by the end of that they'd be on their fourth.

It was one of those days when you prayed for snow to rain down hard on you.

"It's so hot out…" Tohru sat uncomfortably at her lifeguard watch-out, rubbing her head and sipping more water. The thing with being assigned lifeguard was that it's mandatory you sit on this extremely high chair, which, in very hot weather such as what they were experiencing right then, puts you even closer to the sun, and the heat, then earlier. She was okay with it though, it was fun. Even when almost no one needed supervising, since almost no one came to the beach anymore.

_But I just need to be patient. People will come eventually, I'm sure._

"Tohru?" She turned around, both sides, then looked below. Yuki stared back up at her, and grinned. "There you are."

"Oh! Yuki, hi," Tohru replied. Her smile was sweet and sincere, despite the irritating weather. He threw a water bottle up at her, and with much struggle with catching it at first (she almost fell off her chair, actually), Tohru was able to grasp it. "Thanks, I _was_ running out…"

"No problem. By the way, Mayu-senpai is gathering all of us for a meeting. I was thinking we should go check what she wants."

"Sure." She leaped off her base, and landed on her two feet. "Race you there!"

* * *

Kyo shoved a spoon of strawberry ice cream into his mouth as he stared straight ahead.

His expression tensed, and he cringed, as he saw Coach stampede by, and pass him a sidelong glance. "Eating on the job, eh?" His tone was irritatingly mocking.

"You noticed?"

Coach grabbed hold of his collar and pushed him to the brick wall of the small booth. "Save some for the children, will you?"

Kyo struggled his way back up, and twitched. "No one's gonna come."

"Let me correct that, Sohma." All of a sudden, Coach seemed ten times larger. "No one's gonna come if you keep messin' around like that. Get back to work."

"Sure, Mom." By then Coach was already twenty feet down the beach.

* * *

"Our meeting has come to order," Mayu-Senpai, as addressed by her students, declared, in a firm voice. She was Coach's assistant.

About twenty students gathered around the shaded area underneath a large strip of someone else's old blanket, which a few of them had assembled before hand. Several plastic stools were put out, but most sat cross-legged on the rough sand, or stood.

She continued. "As you can see…" A quick gesture to their surroundings.

Almost no one paid attention. Some wouldn't bother, and the rest had passed out due to the heat. Only a few listened-Yuki, Hana, Tohru-especially, with a big smile on her face. Arisa had fallen half-asleep, her eyelids drooping warily, like many others.

Mayu slapped her forehead continuously. "C'mon! Don't you dare die on me! Pay attention, _please_."

On of the sleepers shot up, glanced around, and collapsed back onto the sand.

She almost threw a fit.

Well, technically, she _did_, but after a few breathers, she pulled herself back together and got straight to the point. "We need to make progress with this place."

One of the guys, snickered. "Yeah, we do."

"No, no! We need more than that! Offer some ideas-to attract people to this place, turn it into the same tour-spot as it was twenty years ago! The City Council's counting on us!"

Yuki made a statement. "Twenty years is a long time."

"Yes, yes, but-"

"It'll take quite a lot of work."

Mayu threw her arms in the air. "I give up. It's perfectly hopeless with you kids."

"Um-" Tohru jumped up, and raised her hand politely. "We _could_ host an event, you know, have activities and stuff, raise money for that local charity and-"

Everyone remained silent.

She blushed. "It _will_ take some work, but, I bet if we get this place a little tidied up, maybe serve free food and drinks-people would love that I bet, especially if the rest of summer's as hot as today is-and then maybe _then_…" Tohru trailed off, seeing all eyes on her. "….people will come?"

A blink, then Yuki was first to speak. "That's a very good idea, Miss Honda."

"Yes, it is," remarked Hana next.

At the very second Tohru lightened up, someone, a boy with brown hair, commented about all the rotten hardwork they'd have to do. "I doubt anyone will come."

She felt a hurtful jab at her heart.

Everyone stood, and in what seemed a second, everyone but her had left the area.

* * *

Kyo saw a familiar figure approaching. Her long brown hair stuck to her cheeks, as the heat gleamed onto the top of her head, and onto her light skin. She seemed a little dead, zombie-like, he noticed. _Not your usual Tohru. _

She came closer, and threw her head to the wooden counter.

"Hey," he felt sweat trickling down his skin again. He tugged at a strand of her hair. "You feeling okay?"

Slowly, she lifted her head up to face him, and she just stared.

He didn't know what to do, since she seemed pretty sick or something, and panicked slightly. The tension built up, because for the next while, she seemed possessed.

"Uh…Tohru?"

She twitched, a little. Then scratched her head.

"Tohru?"

No form of movement this time, whatsoever. He was running out ideas. And he was pretty freaked out.

"Talk already, dammit!"

She shook her head a little, and weakly grabbed his hand. Taken off guard, he backed away, the felt her forehead. The heat must've gotten the best of her.

_What now? I can't just leave her here…Yuki would be such a pain about it…but….hey, Tohru looks pretty cute in a bathing suit..._

She looked up.

"Um," held out a strawberry cone to her. "Ice cream?"

* * *

By three in the afternoon, it was boiling, easily the hottest part of the day. Most of the students gave up and dropped whatever they were doing, and ran all the way home. They swore they'd never be back.

Yuki was passing along at this time, with his toilet plunger and his bucket. He was on his way to the washrooms, as it was his duty, as said by Coach, to leave everything 'squeaky clean'.

Then he caught a glimpse of the runaways, panting as they exited the beach, watched a bit, then continued.

He couldn't say he blamed them.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Reviews please? I'd love you for them. **

**AHEM. More questions, 'coz I really need to brush up on my FB smarts for this story.**

**1) Anyone know the name of the highschool the gang attends? **

**2) Name of the city they live in?**

**Please tell me if any of you know the answers! Thanks guys. :)**


	3. Smirks, Sighs, and Surprises

**WooT! Sorry for the late update, guys! School's been a drag, but now that it's over I can finally get back into fanfiction overdrive. Yes!**

**So anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter. It was fun to write. Not much romance yet though. I'm saving them for lating on. (:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket in anyway. Just the plot, and random irrelevant characters that won't have much to do with this story anyway. XD**

**-- ALSO. Please note I haven't seen or read FB in awhile, so characterization might be a little off. **

**--**

Tohru liked to remember those times when she was little, like when she was taught how to ride her new bike, and when she met her very first friend that was a boy, who did _not_, like other boys, think girls were stinky poos. He also acted like a little-version of a gentleman, which she liked very much.

She remembered when Mom first taught her how to make her first onigiri. And a special way to do it, too.

And when Mom would take her to the local pet store every two weeks, where she'd get to see her favorite cats. And get to name (the store owner didn't mind) each and every one.

The beach, when it wasn't deserted and not considered a place to go when you wanted torture and near-death experience.

Stawberries. Just the way she liked them; freshly picked with a pint of white sugar. You couldn't get those in the market that good anymore, you had to grow them yourself. Which she didn't mind, actually.

Little things. Little memories she missed.

Why weren't things this easy anymore?

_Oh, mom..._

--

"And then there were seven." Kyo smirked as he pulled out a bottle of iced water from the cooler_. _The rest of the rest who decided to stick to the community service all together gathered around main base, drooping over the plastic chairs. Once again and not so surpisingly, their bottled water stash was decreasing fast. "This might be tougher than I thought."

Tohru stared down, lost, drawing small pictures in the sand with her finger. She was still upset about yesterday, as much as she kept denying it. "No, _no_," she would go on saying. "It's nothing, _really_."

Everyone knew it wasn't just _nothing_.

"Cleaning those toilets were a drag," Yuki sighed as he joined the small crowd, his sleeves pushed upwards, a bucket and a plunger occupying both hands. "It seems as if Shigure came here everyday to see which was the most comfortable. That _dog_."

"Looks like you're enjoying washroom duty, you damn rat," orange-top grinned. His legs were bent towards his torso, and his elbows rested loosely on them. He was still wearing his ice-cream man hat.

"Mm. A bit," remarked Yuki. Smirking.

"Well we can't just sit here," groaned Uo; Arisa. "It's pathetic. The faster we get the job done the sooner we can go home."

The rest agreed, and stood.

A beat.

One of the boys shuddered as he stared back at the beach, then adjusted his glasses to make sure his eyes deceiving him. "It looks worse than it did five minutes ago."

--

After three days, Yuki finally finished cleaning the entire men's washroom.

It looked no better, but _hey_, he told himself. At least it was done.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead, smiled, and washed his hands with cold water (ignoring the bits and pieces of who-knows-what also dropped from the tap). He was done.

He was done, he was done, he was done, he was done, he was _done_.

Yuki thought it over. Now that he was _done_, he was able to talk out an ice cream cone from that stupid cat.

He was done, he was done, he was done, he was done, he was _doooooone._

With a smile spread across his face and his head held extra-high, he whistled on his way out.

Only to bump into Coach and lunge backwards to the ground.

"Hmm, Sohma, _finished _with your work?" How was it that Coach seemed so _much _larger at this point?

Yuki swallowed. "Oh, uh, yes, I-"

"Great," Coach seemed pleased. "Now you can clean the _other washroom_."

Everything clicked into his mind at once. "The _other washroom_?"

"Yes, Yuki-chan." Coach turned the other direction, and went back on his way. Still smirking. "Have fun."

Yuki trembled as he glanced at it. The one place he wanted to see in his entire life, the one place he promised himself he'd avoid in fear of-

He couldn't believe it. The _other washroom_.

--

"We're making no progress."

"I think it looks even worse than how it was when we came here."

"Coach is soooo gonna kill us!"

"Yuki seems happy." Maya--light-brown hair--eyed him suspiciously. He blushed; no one, he hoped, would learn of his newfound guilty pleasure.

He shook his hands in the air in denial. "Me? Happy? Not me! Hehe…heh."

Five of them re-gathered back at main base after two hours of less-than-progressive work, when the last two-Kyo and Tohru joined in.

More sighing.

A ring. Two rings. Three-

"I got it," said Yuki. And he walked a few feet away to answer it. A few stared in curiousity. If they were lucky, it'd be a miracle worker who called to save them from hell.

Yuki's eyes widened as the speaker on the other line spoke. Whatever it was, it wasn't your average call.

"I understand. Alright…..bye." He closed his phone and stood there, frozen.

Kyo passed him a straight glare. "Who was it?"

"You'll never guess." It was a look that only Kyo understood.

"No….no….damnit…_no_." The news, the rest of them decided, couldn't have been good.

Tohru looked at the two concerned. "What's wrong?"

Another sigh, courtesy of Prince Yuki. "Apparentely they called Shigure to ask how we were…and he told them-"

"Told them what?"

"-and that-" he wasn't able to choke the right words out.

Tohru bit her lip, worried a little more. "Yuki, is everything…alright?"

Yuki tried a fake smile. "It's nothing. It's just that-"

They knew it wasn't just _nothing_.

Kyo growled. "Tell her already, Yuki!"

He had to give in. "The Sohmas."

It caused a little stir, but still, no one quite got it. "Yes, but what about them?"

The silver-haired prince of Kaibara Highschool, Tokyo, gave in. "The Sohmas. The _Sohmas_, decided to come give us a hand."

Silence.

"They'll be arriving tomorrow at noon."

Tohru and the rest remained silent. They've heard lots about the Sohmas (for some, more than others). How they were mostly quite reserved people, and how there was something about them that one who didn't know them personally was unable to place their finger on. They didn't know what to say.

Kyo smirked. "Well _this_ is gonna be interesting."

* * *

**OH NOEZ. What will they do now?? D:**

**Things get good next chapter I promise. XD **

**Hope you enjoyed this one. Leave a review?**


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